Pre 2020 being treated like a "side event" at climate meet

Ever since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, many developing countries feel that the developed world has forgotten its short-term commitment to finance and emission reductionsManka Behl | TNN | Updated: December 06, 2018, 16:22 IST

A woman walks down the stairs inside the venue of the COP24 U.N. Climate Change Conference 2018 in Katowice, Poland December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel KATOWICE : While the World Bank has promised 200 billion and Germany doubled its climate finance promise, developing nations maintain that there is “not enough money” on the table.

Ever since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, many developing countries feel that the developed world has forgotten its short-term commitment to finance and emission reductions, technically termed as Pre 2020 ambition. So does India.

Resentment among Indian negotiators, who are participating in the 24th session of the UN Climate in Katowice, is evident. Amid poor participation of developed nations, which are refusing to come out clean on their commitments, the negotiators feel that the critical Pre-2020 agenda has merely turned into a “side event” this year.

As per international media reports, many developed countries like Germany, the European Union (EU) have reduced the number of negotiators they have sent to the UN talks this year. Compared to 2015, the EU has sent 45 fewer negotiators and the USA has sent only one-third of what they sent to Paris. India’s chief climate change negotiator Ravi Shankar Prasad has expressed concerns over the “poor participation”.

Earlier this week, the World Bank announced more than 200 billion dollars in additional climate action investment between 2021-25. This was followed by an announcement from Germany that they would leverage private investment to double its financial contribution to the Green Climate Fund.

However, India’s woes are directed towards the turn-downs by its progressive counterparts on key issues like clear information on funding, scaling up the 100 billion dollar goal after 2020, and a comprehensive review of their financial promises as well as calls for increased transparency.

The combination of these efforts point at clear signals that developed nations are seeking to walk back from their earlier collective financial pledges and expand the ‘spirit’ of climate finance across private sector investments and multilateral loans. “The developed countries do not want to be questioned formally. Even the latest pre-2020 synthesis report fails to answer the critical question on what have they done to meet their commitments,” said Prasad while interacting with the media.

On the USD 100 billion goals by 2020, Prasad stated that there remains a huge gap which needs to be addressed. “The requirement of climate finance is known to all, it runs in trillions. The amount should be scaled up as soon as possible for the best interest,” he added.

The climate funding pledges made by the World Bank and Germany are being perceived as “not in the spirit of the agreement.” World Bank is a multilateral institution and as per the agreement, climate finance should not be loaned. Germany’s focus, on the other hand, is leveraging private sector investments.

India has further demanded that rather than burdening the developing nations, the developed ones should adopt transparency in expressing their emission gaps. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report gives a clear picture on how emission gaps should be addressed and all the developed countries should ensure its full implementation,” said Prasad.